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Tampa Bay - Saltwater
Capt. Matt Ercoli
August 27, 2001
Tampa Bay - Saltwater Fishing Report
Redfish, snook, Spanish mackeral, lots of trout and even some tarpon. This past week has been a fairly good one despite the heat. The early morning falling tides have made for some good snook fishing, not a lot of numbers but some of the snook we are catching are up to thirty inches. That's good with snook season right around the corner. Remember September first is the big day!
The redfishing has been good with most fish falling between 24 an 26 inches, perfect eating size. We are still catching a few over sized fish, especially on the high tide days. Here is some interesting information for you. I ran into a fish and wildlife management guy at the dock yesterday who was doing a redfish study. He had been checking hatchlings from the stocking program. They have already stocked more than a million redfish into Tampa bay over the last year and a half. Redfish are extremely fast growers and many of these fish will reach legal size in the next six months. Wow! can you believe how good the fishing will be for reds a year from now. Texas has done wonders with its stocking program. The plan is to keep up this aggressive stocking program with more than a million hatchlings per year going into Tampa bay. Imagine the five-year and ten-year affects on our fishery. I believe Tampa bay is now one of the best fisheries in the world. I t's consider by many to be the most fertile water in the state. I can only imagine what it will be like when these new hatchlings take hold and they start reproducing. Thank goes out to those donating their time and efforts.
Trout fishing has been as fast as you can reel them in this week. Most of the trout are smaller, but for anyone who likes catching a lot of fish, after an hour on these guys you'll get tired of taking them off your hook. We are still managing some eaters between 15 and 18 inches.
Little tunny and Spanish mackerel fishing has been holding stong and consistent for me, I have been taking my fly guys out there for some fast action. The Spanish are running between 20 to 24 inches and most of the little tunny are 8 to 12 pounds, drag screamer on light tackle and fly alike.
As for larger fish, I haven't been chasing them lately but I have located a large school of tarpon for any one who is interested. If you have been watching the news, it is safe to say there are plenty of sharks out there. If you're interested in a true sea monster, the Jew fish seem to be on the bite again, we actually lost several little tunny on the fly this week to Jew fish and barracuda. Most of these Jew fish average 300 to 400 pounds. If you are wondering why I refer to them as true sea monsters just hook onto one and you will understand why.
Well anyway, I hope you have enjoyed my report. Stay cool, and have fun fishing.
Captain Matt Ercoli
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